DIYARBAKIR: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey and the US agreed on the “scope” of how to secure Kabul airport under the control of Turkish forces after Washington’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Turkey promised to provide security for the airport once the troops leave next month, in a move hailed as an example of improved relations between Ankara and Washington.
Erdogan said the issue was discussed between Turkish and American defence ministers on Thursday, adding: “During discussions with America and Nato, we decided on what would be the scope of the mission, what we would accept and not accept.” Turkey’s move comes after Erdogan held talks with US President Joe Biden in Brussels on the sidelines of a Nato summit in June.
The deal is conditional that Turkey, should get the necessary diplomatic, financial, and logistical support from the United States. Hungary, which took part in the airport mission as a NATO member, and Pakistan could also be involved.
Turkey’s public opinion is divided. There is no clarity on whether Turkish troops would stay as part of another NATO mission, or on their own such as Ankara’s military deployments to Libya, Syria, and Iraq.
Erdogan’s announcement came with Turkey’s NATO membership being questioned, not only among its Western allies but also inside the country. Turkey’s relations with the West have been strained because of its purchase of a Russian S-400 missile defence system.
The acquisition was slammed because the batteries are not compatible with NATO systems. Also roiling relations are Ankara’s military presence in Libya, Syria, and Iraq, and its oil-and-gas exploration activities in the Eastern Mediterranean that have brought Turkey and Greece at loggerheads.
Ankara’s purchase of the multibillion-dollar S-400s triggered unprecedented US sanctions on its NATO ally. Under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, any foreign government working with the Russian defence sector finds itself in the crosshairs of American sanctions.
Turkey has more than 500 troops in Afghanistan as part of a noncombat NATO mission. The soldiers have overseen training Afghan security forces, and some still serve at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital.
As NATO’s only Muslim member, Turkey’s noncombat troops have maintained a close relationship with all ethnic groups, including the Taliban, the Islamist movement and military organisation spread across Afghanistan.
However, the Taliban – as it continues to seize territory – has rejected Ankara’s proposal to guard and run Kabul’s airport after US-led NATO forces depart.
“Turkey was part of NATO forces in the past 20 years so as such, they should withdraw from Afghanistan on the basis of the agreement we signed with the US on February 29, 2020,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in June.
“Otherwise, Turkey is a great Islamic country. Afghanistan has had historical relations with it. We hope to have close and good relations with them as a new Islamic government is established in the country in future,” he added.
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Estimates suggest the Taliban controls nearly half of the 400 districts in Afghanistan. However, a Taliban delegation in Russia on Friday claimed 85 percent of Afghan territory was under the group’s control.
Analysts suggest Turkey cannot stay in Afghanistan unless the Taliban agrees to it. In the Turkish capital, the general perception is the Taliban is an undeniable reality in Afghanistan. Officials say the group has transformed its hardline policies and is not what it used to be 20 years ago.
‘Military victory’
Hikmet Cetin, Turkey’s former deputy prime minister and NATO’s former senior civilian representative for Afghanistan, said despite the Taliban’s claims to have changed, there is no answer to “how much”.
However, he is one of those who believe it is Turkey’s historical and cultural responsibility to stay and assist the Afghan people after the NATO withdrawal, as long as Ankara has support from the West – along with the Taliban’s approval.
“While Taliban’s political wing is in favour of reconciliation, the military wing is chasing a military victory. They want to reconcile. Otherwise, nothing will have changed there in the last 19 years,” Cetin told Al Jazeera.
Sources Turkish press, DAWN, al Jazeera
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